Importance of Learning the Truth

Being in Medical school I have, obviously, learned how to take a history and physical (to a certain extent). The teachers always emphasize that 80% or more of the cases we will see can be solved just with a good history and physical. However, in the introduction to our Cardiovascular system class we had a great teacher that explained something that seems so simple, "You see only what you look for and you recognize only what you know." Obvious? I thought so, but then I realized the significance of this statement after I read a section in Discover Magazine (Vital Signs by H. Lee Kagan). The story goes like this:

"The Student emerged from the examination room, chart in hand, and planted himself next to me in the hallway where I was finishing up my notes on another patient. Anxious to share his discovery, he leaned over and whispered, 'I think she has a mass in her pelvis (hip area).'.......I knew the student had asked the patient a battery of questions, but how good was he at taking the next step-- making the connections between her answers and his physical findings (E-Man: Basically, the doctor is wondering if the student can figure out what is causing the pelvic mass). I asked him if she had any symptoms related to the mass. 'Related to the mass?' he echoed as I watched him struggle to come up with something......'You told me that she had no complaint of pain....[Was there] Dyspareunia?' His brow furrowed and his eyes nearly crossed. I realized he didn't know what the word meant.....'Dyspareunia,' I told him, 'pain with intercourse. It can accompany a number of conditions, including pelvic tumors.' He stared at me, bewildered. I stared back at him, 'What?' He glanced away and then whispered, 'I thought intercourse was supposed to hurt the woman.' He was dead serious...When we had chatted earlier, he told me he had been raised outside of the United States, in a country that I knew had less progressive views of women's rights. Had he brought this bit of nonsense with him from the old country?"

This story details a serious problem with misinformation, it can be deadly. If this student had never learned that intercourse is not supposed to be painful for the woman then he could have missed many diagnosis of ovarian cancer which, as the author points out later, sometimes only shows up as pain with intercourse. That is a very scary thought, someone's cultural influence with misinformation could lead to life endangerment.

I think this story, along with countless others, can reveal the need for people to teach young people the truth. The culture which this young medical student came from could have cost a number of women their lives.

This is not only true about science and medicine, but I think it is true of Judaism as well. There is a lot of misinformation that is found out there with regard to Judaism that is spread by Jews and people who hate Judaism. For instance, this incident http://wolfishmusings.blogspot.com/2010/09/frum-people-dont-kiss-or-hug-their.html  that the Wolf talks about is mind boggling. This idea could ruin a persons future marriage or love life with their spouse. Also, when the child discovers that he or she was lied to that could turn them off from the religion entirely. This is true with regard to how some people discuss Chazal's infallibility and scientific knowledge found in the Gemorah as well. When someone lies, states something that is easily falsifiable, to their children or students, that is the most dangerous thing. In fact, it turns so many people off and ends up "killing" many student's or childrens' desires to learn more about the religion, they just give it up because it is "full of false beliefs."

There are appropriate ways to teach children about difficult subjects and there are bad ways to teach children about difficult subjects. If you are incapable of discussing it with them, you shouldn't lie about it. Please, find someone who can discuss this subject with them, they will thank you for your ability to realize when you do not understand how to deal with something and G-D will thank you for your intelligent decision to explain these difficult situations appropriately and meaningfully, aka by using someone more knowledgeable about the subject.